She realized the literacy needs of people in Orleans County were not being met, and she was determined to do something about it.

Tuesday night at the Millville United Methodist Church, OCALS — which started asOrleans County Adult Reading Services,but is now just known as OCALS since it started serving children — celebrated its 10th anniversary of providing literacy services to people of all ages.

The need for such an agency was determined after Orleans Literacy Task Force was formed in 2004, due to an escalating rate of illiteracy and concerns over dissolution of Literacy Orleans.

A survey mailed in 2005 revealed that residents recognized the high illiteracy rate and need for improved literacy services, while preferring the county have its own literacy program.

Although Literacy Genesee purchased its Orleans Counterpart and started offering services shortly afterward, Ruck and several supporters began efforts to form a literacy group based in Orleans County.

They had no money, just spirit and determination. They formed their first board of directors and became a member ofProLiteracy Americaon Oct. 2006.

In December, when they had their first basic literacy tutor training workshop at Swan Library, 19 volunteers attended.READ MORE @

Read to Me literacy program reconnects incarcerated parents with children through recorded stories

Mr. Haines introduced the title of the book, “Airport,” by Byron Barton, to Joseph, 4, and Ryan Jr., 2.

As the boys’ father read, he walked his sons through the book. He described the colorful pictures of airplanes and scenery and asked the boys to point to illustrations on the page of different air crafts, signs and passengers.

“Do you see the man with a brown hat?” Mr. Haines asked. “That’s a cowboy hat like daddy’s.” The boys pointed to the images their father described and responded to him, though Mr. Haines wasn’t there to see or hear it.

The boys’ father participated in Read to Me, a family literacy program that helps parents connect with their children through reading offered at Wayne County Correctional Facility, where Mr. Haines was an inmate.

Join us in the days to come as we team up with theHumboldt Literacy Projectto celebrate Adult Literacy Awareness Month this September by sharing learners own stories.

The Humboldt Literacy Project offers free, confidential, one-on-one English literacy tutoring for adults. Imagine growing up in a world full of signs and rules you couldn’t understand. Now imagine living your whole life in this world under a cloud of other people’s assumptions about what this said about you — assumptions about what you could and couldn’t do.

Stepping out from under this cloud at any age takes guts. We’d like to encourage more of the 14,000 adults in Humboldt County who are functionally illiterate to make the journey into the world of reading and writing by sharing some of their stories this week. Because adult illiteracy carries a stigma, we’ll be sharing as much about their identities as they feel comfortable sharing. Sometimes they won’t speak from under a direct spotlight, but their voices will carry from offstage.

Our first story comes to us from a mother who would like to share her fondest childhood memory:READ MORE @